LEARNING DAILY

Genesis 2:16-17, And the lord God commanded the man saying, “Of every tree of the garden you mat eat freely; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

There it is – the divine requirement to walking on a narrow way into God’s kingdom for eternity. Obedience is at the very center of all that God demands of those who follow Him. This is no after- thought for God; it was a command set forth for Adam and Eve to follow as they took care of the Garden of Eden. “In Eden, God does not ask the first man and woman for love or faithfulness, only for obedience to one fundamental command, ‘If you want to walk with Me, do what I say.’” (David Jeremiah).

That fundamental command is taught throughout the Bible and is one of the most difficult to follow. It is difficult because Believers live in a fallen world that continually promotes “living your life the way you want” rather than being obedient to the Word of God. Believers live in a world where sin is made glamorous and made so tempting that saying “no” is not done. Believers live in a world that promotes having no authority in your life except your own; giving in to another’s authority is not acceptable.

This thought comes right after the last page of the blog about “accepting” Jesus Christ as one’s Savior and still trying to hang on to what the world offers. Those who ask Jesus Christ to save them must understand that He has declared what the world offers as off limit. In the Garden, Adam and Eve could eat from any tree they wanted except for one. God had provided everything they needed; He had given Adam and Eve complete freedom in the Garden with one exception. The online Bible study site BibleRef.com states this, “This simple prohibition underscores the Bible’s basic view of sin and salvation. Mankind will not fall into sin because he fails to keep some impossible long list of rules. Nor will humanity fail because the restrictions are too demanding. Given near complete freedom, and one single restriction, humanity will still choose to sin and fall.”

That brings to the need for every believer “to make their free will to be the will of God” (A.W. Tozer). Obedience that God requires is for His will to become our will. That is the choice every Believer has to make every day. Are you going to follow God’s will by saying “no” to the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16) or are you going to be your “own boss”? Are you going to walk a narrow way that leads to an eternity in God’s kingdom or walk on the broad way that leads to destruction? Free will is a mystery in some ways; each person gets to choose for themselves the path they take in their life.

My question is how an individual can say they are saved and still walk in disobedience to the Savior who saved them? No, it is a matter of being all in with Jesus Christ. He cannot be divided to where a person walks with Him sometimes or only follow some commands while rejecting others. It is a matter of walking with Him as He demands or not at all. He will be either Lord of all or not at all. Choose wisely. Where you spend eternity depends on the choice you make!